Teacher Resource Guide

and Lesson Plan Activities

Looking for ways to connect to the Common Core and other standards?

Watch for this symbol throughout the resource guide for activities to meet

the national standards.

About StoryTime Theatre StoryTime Theatre was developed by Blue Apple’s

Education Department in 2012 as a way of introducing

students to story genre. In the spirit of the Blue Apple

founders, the Education Department creates a new,

original play each year featuring a different genre of story

and the culture from which it originated. A folktale from

Appalachia was performed in 2012; 2013 focused on

myths from four Native American tribes. Last year, the

team examined the legends of Daniel Boone from

American frontier culture.

This year, we use the fairytale of Rumpelstiltskin and

explore the German culture where the Brothers Grimm

collected the story. Please let us know of any projects

inspired by this module at P.O. Box 4261, Louisville,

KY 40204 or info@blueappleplayers.org. We delight in

hearing about all class adventures!

The Brothers Grimm Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

History is filled with many brothers who, by working

together, made great contributions. One set of brothers,

often referred to as The Brothers Grimm, collected

oral traditions that came in the form of fairytales and

legends. They were not the first to compile such works,

however, Jacob and Wilhelm were committed to

keeping stories true to form instead of adding flowery

expositions and insulting the commoners from whom

their stories came. Their first publication came across

too violent and had other adult themes so the Grimms

had to explain the stories were not written for children.

Later, realizing the market for children’s literature, the

Grimms rewrote the stories to appeal to younger

audiences.

Their work caused them to be beloved in their

homeland, Germany, and to be renowned storytellers

for generations to come. Many other stories, films, and

series have been based on Grimms’ fairytales so

modern-day readers and audiences continue to benefit

from the genius and hard work of these two brothers.

This resource guide includes information about the show and ideas for follow-up lessons to use in your classrooms. The activities were designed for 2nd-5th grade classes; however, feel free to adapt them as needed.

We hope you have enjoyed this year’s performance of StoryTime Theatre: Rumpelstiltskin, a Fairytale. We

request that you take a few moments to fill out a short survey to help us understand how we can continue to

meet your classroom needs. Visit the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D8M2DGN

Tim Mathistad returns to Blue Apple Players after serving as their musical director

for 20 years. His theatrical career spans 40 years of musical productions and plays in

Denver, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Phoenix, and Louisville. Previous musical

productions with Blue Apple include The Melting Pot, Red Riding Hood, and Santa

and the Unhappy Elf; as well as, Blue Apple’s StoryTime Theatre productions

of Molly Whuppie and Native American Myths. Local audiences may have seen him in

14 shows at Derby Dinner Playhouse and in the role of Wilbur in Hairspray at MTL

and as Gunner Johnson in A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol at Bunbury Thea-

tre. Tim was also a member of the highly successful musical revue group Cabaret

Sauvignon.

Jomaris DeJesús is an actress, business coach, motivational speaker & trainer. The Puerto

Rican born also known as Jomy, joins the Blue Apple Players/Walden Theater for her first

tour. Jomy has been acting since she was six years old having performed in theater, radio, film,

and television. She has worked with renowned production companies and networks such as Tele-

mundo International and Lionsgate Productions. Locally she serves as a board member for La

Casita Center and Looking for Lilith Theatre Company; those positions she accepted after inter-

preting the title role at Looking for Lilith’s production “Luz”. She has rapidly become an impor-

tant part of Louisville's Hispanic theater performing the multi-role principal on “Monster’s in the

Closet, Ogres Under the Bed” with Teatro Tercera Llamada where she also works as the director

for the pantomime project “The Pantomimes: Stories of Immigrants”. In addition, Jomaris holds

an MBA in Global Management, from the University of Phoenix as well as a BA in Communica-

tions with a minor in Education from the University of the Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico.

Letitia Usher returns to Blue Apple Players after serving as their Education Associate for 8 years. She

is a Colorado native who graduated cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre and Speech Com-

munications from Murray State University in 1994. In 2009, she earned a Masters Degree from the

University of Louisville in Counseling. She is a Master Storyteller, Certified Teacher and School

Counselor with over 25 years experience in Theatre Education. She has worked professionally as an

actress, storyteller, scenic painter, carpenter, and stage manager. Ms. Usher has taught award winning

theatre/storytelling and literacy building programs to young people in multiple states, including; Cali-

fornia, Colorado, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. After nearly a 10 year hiatus,

"Tish" is thrilled to return to the stage with Walden Theatre/Blue Apple Players. Previous roles in-

clude; Clelia Walgrave in The Nerd, Mary Sue in Blue Collar Blues, Maria in Shakespeare's Twelfth

Night, Ariel in The Tempest, Hermia in Midsummer Night's Dream, and as Caterpillar in Alice in

Wonderland. In addition to her work with Walden/Blue Apple, Letitia works as a Teaching Artist

with Actor's Theatre of Louisville and as a Theatre Instructor for Sacred Heart School for the Arts.

Meet the Cast

Tony Pike is an actor based out of Louisville, KY. Working on his third Blue Apple tour, Tony is a

former student of Western Kentucky University's Theatre. He is a company member of Savage Rose

Classical Theatre in Louisville where he has been seen as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, Mr.

Martini in the Bald Soprano and Ferdinand in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He has also been seen at

the Cannes International Film festival, Short Film Corner staring in the Rivera/Sennet production of

“Writing the Big One”.

Mera Kathryn Corlett—Playwright/Director

Mera Kathryn began her work at Blue Players as a member of the touring company in 2011.

Currently, she serves as an Artistic Associate where her focus has primarily been on early childhood

and elementary programming. Mera Kathryn has played an active role in Blue Apple’s StoryTime

Theatre, touring musical productions, drama residencies, and professional development for teachers.

This is the second show she has written and directed for the company. Prior to Blue Apple, she

worked for Kentucky Shakespeare as a touring actor, workshop facilitator, and lead teacher for

Camp Shakespeare. Upon graduating Cum Laude from Hanover College with degrees in theatre and

theology, she received the Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence, the most

distinguished award a female graduate can receive.

Questions to Accompany the Story

Recall: Gather Facts

When the Miller says that his

daughter can spin straw into gold,

how does the King respond?

What does he do?

Interpret: Find Meaning

Based on the King’s reaction, how

do you think he feels about this

talent? Why might he feel that

way?

Analyze: Take Things Apart

List at least three times any of the

characters made a mistake and

the result of his/ her mistake.

Synthesize: Bring Things Together

If you had to pick one lesson that

this story teaches, what would it

be?

Evaluate: Make Judgments

Should the Miller’s Daughter

have promised her child? Why

or why not?

Extend: Connect Ideas

Are there other stories that you

can think of that use the motif of

taking a baby away?

Characteristics of a Fairytale A fairytale is a story with roots in the oral storytelling tradition that usually takes place in the past

and involves magic or magical creatures.

Have students listen to or read other Grimm’s fairytales for children. Suggestions are Rapunzel, Snow White and Rose

Red and The Three Spinners (on pages 5-6). You may even want to incorporate fairytales from other cultures such as

The Irish Cinderlad, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. Next, use the headers below and list elements

students heard or found in the selected fairytales.

Has good characters

and bad characters.

People, animals, or

objects have magic.

The magic can be

good or bad.

Elements in the story

present in threes—

Also known as “The

Rule of Threes”

Usually has a happy

ending, i.e. “...they

lived happily ever

after”.

Teaches a lesson or

demonstrates values

important to the

culture.

Common Core Standards for English Language

Arts and Literacy:

W 1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,

supporting a point of view with reasons; W 2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic

and convey ideas and information clearly; W 8: Recall

information from experience or gather information from

print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and

sort evidence into provided categories. SL4: Describe

people, places, things, and events with relevant details,

expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: RL.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures;

determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain through key details in the text; RL9: Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (eg.

mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Story Mapping Two Fairytales There is another lesser-known story found in the Grimm’s

collection of German stories. The story is called The Three Spinners

and appeared in a later edition of Children’s and Household Tales.

Scholars have found many commonalities in the two stories; some have

even argued that The Three Spinners is a sequel to Rumpelstiltskin.

Have students recall the story of Rumpelstiltskin. Take large pieces

of paper and fold them once horizontally, then into thirds vertically.

Unfold them and each sheet should now have 6 boxes. Title the boxes

as follows.

Break students into small groups of about 4-5 and ask them to think

about the play they just saw. Instruct them to work in groups, first to

draw what they think the main character should look like. Give them

the option to draw other characters from the story. Next, tell the

students to work together to decide when the first problem occurs and

to draw that moment in the ‘Problem’ box. In the ‘Setting’ box,

students should draw a picture of the setting of the story. Lastly, ask

each group to think of three different events that happened in the story

and draw them in the “Event” boxes.

Have students read, or read aloud, the story of The Three Spinners.

The story is on pages 5-6. Now, have each group create a second pa-

per with the new story’s characters, problem, setting, and events. Stu-

dents must next find similarities between Rumpelstiltskin and The

Three Spinners. Ask, “why do you think spinning was an important

task in these stories?” Then have students name differences in the two

narratives. Prompt, “Are the lessons in the stories similar or different?”

Have groups present what they found for the class. Later, hang the

story maps on the wall as displays.

Characters Problem Setting

Event 1 Event 2 Event 3

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: RL1: Ask and answer

questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the

basis for the answers; RL9: Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (eg. mysteries

and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics

SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade topics and text

with peers and adults in small and larger groups;

SL4: Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feel-

ings clearly;

SL5: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas,

thoughts, and feeling.

Story Collecting The Grimm Brothers published their first collection of

stories in the year 1812. Every few years they would

publish a new edition adding even more stories. The first

edition included eighty-six stories. By 1857, when the

final edition was published, the brothers had collected

211 tales and legends. The brothers wanted to create a

scholarly book that documented the stories told in house-

holds across Germany. They traveled all over the coun-

try listening to folk tales and writing them in their jour-

nals. If it were not for Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, we

would not know many of our common stories today.

Before their time, these kinds of stories were not written;

rather, they were told orally.

For an activity with your class, let your students become

the story collectors. Give each student a notebook (or

simply paper stapled together), to collect and document

stories. Have your students ask family and friends to tell

them a story. They must write down whatever narratives

are told to them in their notebooks. Tell them not to

worry if they miss some details in the story, even the

Grimms elaborated a little.

For older students, you can start to explain the differ-

ences in narrative voice (i.e. first person protagonist, first

person witness, third person omniscient).

Have you ever wondered why spinning wheels appear in many fairy-

tales? Rumpelstiltskin, The Three Spinners, The Golden Spinning-

Wheel, and Sleeping Beauty are all stories that feature the domestic

machine used for making wool or flax. It is believed that many of these

stories were created and passed to others by women working in large

spinning circles. As they spun, they would tell these tales to keep one

another awake and entertained.

For this activity with your students, you will need a large ball of yarn.

Tell your students about the history of spinning circles and their relation-

ship to oral storytelling. Next, have them create in a large circle and sit

down. Explain that together they are going to build a new fairytale. Re-

mind them what a motif is when it applies to the genre. Ask students to

name a few characters or motifs that appear in fairytales (i.e. royalty, witches, ogres,

sleeping spells, difficult tasks). Once you are satisfied with their answers, take the

ball of yarn and hold onto the end of the string. You will start the story with “Once

upon a time…” and pass the ball of yarn across to another person. The person the

yarn is passed to must next add a line to the story, hold on to the string with one

hand, then pass the ball with the other. Continue building the story and passing the

ball of yarn until everyone is holding a piece of thread. Have the last pass be back to

you. End the story with the line “… and they all lived happily ever after.” At the end

of the activity take a picture of the story web you created together.

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: W3:

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using

effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences; W4:

With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the

development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

Common Core Standards for

English Language Arts and Liter-

acy:

SL 1: Engage effectively in a

range of collaborative discussions with

diverse partners on grade topics and texts,

building on others’ ideas and expressing

their own clearly; SL 6: Speak in complete

sentences when appropriate to task and

situation in order to provide requested

detail or clarification.; SL4: Describe peo-

ple, places, things, and events with relevant

details, expressing ideas and feeling clearly.

What’s My Name? The name is the game for Rumpelstiltskin. The

guessing of the name is the central part of this story.

In fact, this is not the only story that depicts the be-

lief that knowing someone’s name means you have

power over him or her. When Antti Aarne and

Stith Thompson created their classification for sto-

ries, they classified the Grimms’ Rumpelstiltskin

with #500 “Guessing The Helper’s Name.” There

are 19 other stories included in this category. You

can find a few of them on page 7 with the

“Supplemental Reading Suggestions”.

Invite your students to investigate their names.

Explain that names are central part of who we are.

Names come from all kinds of places: friends or

family members, name books, and every country on

the map. Sometimes names are even made up, like

Rumpelstiltskin. Give students the assignment to go

research their names. Have them start by asking

family members how they got their names. You

may choose to bring in name books that include

name origins and meanings. For students with

more unique names, search the internet for sources.

Later, have each student create a short presenta-

tion about his or her name. They must present what

it means and what makes it powerful or special.

Spinning Stories

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and

Literacy: W 7: Conduct short research projects that build

knowledge about a topic; SL 4: Report on a topic or text, tell a

story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and

relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understand-

able pace.

The Three Spinners From Children’s and Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm Adapted by Mera K. Corlett

T HERE was once a girl who was idle and would not spin, and no matter what

her mother said, she could not bring her to work. At last the mother was once

so overcome with anger and impatience, that she gave her daughter a spanking.

The girl began to weep loudly. Now at this very moment the Queen drove by,

and when she heard the weeping she stopped her carriage, went into the house and asked

the mother why she was spanking her daughter? Then the woman was ashamed to reveal

the laziness of her daughter and so instead she said, "I cannot get her to leave off spin-

ning. She insists on spinning for ever and ever, and I am poor, and do not have enough

flax." Then answered the Queen, "There is nothing that I like better to hear than spinning,

and I am never happier than when the wheels are humming. Let me have your daughter

with me in the palace. I have flax enough, and there she shall spin as much as she likes."

The mother was very happy with this, and the Queen took the girl with her. When they

had arrived at the palace, she led her up into three rooms which were filled from the bot-

tom to the top with the finest flax. "Now spin me this flax," said she, "and when thou hast

done it, thou shall have my eldest son for a husband, even if thou art poor. I care not for

that, thy hard work is dowry enough." The girl was secretly terrified. She knew could not

have spun all the flax, not even if she lived till she was three hundred years old, and

worked every day from morning till night. When she was alone, she began to weep. She

sat thus for three days without moving a finger. On the third day the Queen came, and

when she saw that nothing had been spun, she was surprised; but the girl told her that she

had not been able to begin because of her great distress at leaving her mother's house. The

queen understood this, but said as she was leaving, "Tomorrow thou must begin to work."

When the girl was alone again, she did not know what to do, and in her distress went to

the window. Then she saw three women coming towards her, the first of whom had a

broad flat foot, the second had such a great lower lip that it hung down over her chin, and

the third had a large thumb. They stood at the window, looked up, and asked the girl what

was wrong with her? She told them of her trouble, and then they offered her their help.

They said, "If you will invite us to the wedding, not be ashamed of us, and will call us

your aunts, and let us sit at your table, we will spin up the flax for you." "With all my

heart," she replied, “please come in and begin the work at once." She let the three strange

women in, and cleared a place in the first room, where they seated themselves and began

their spinning. The one drew the thread and worked the wheel, the other wetted the thread,

the third twisted it, and struck the table with her finger. As often as she struck it, a skein

of thread fell to the ground that was spun in the finest manner possible. The girl hid the

three spinners from the Queen, and showed her whenever she came the great quantity of

spun thread. When the first room was empty she went to the second, and at last to the

third. Finally, all the work was complete. Then the three women left and said to the girl,

"Do not forget what you have promised us”

When Queen saw the empty rooms and the great heap of yarn, she gave orders for the

wedding. The bridegroom was happy to have such a smart and hard-working wife. "I

have three aunts," said the girl, "and as they have been very kind to me. I would like to

invite them to the wedding, and let them sit with us at our table.” When the feast began,

the three women entered in strange clothing, and the bride said, "Welcome, dear aunts."

"Ah," said the bridegroom, "how do you have such awful looking friends?" So, he went to

the one with the broad flat foot, and said, "Why do you have a broad foot?" "From tread-

ing," she answered, "from treading." Then the bridegroom went to the second and said,

"Why do you have a falling lip?" "From licking," she answered, "from licking." Then he

asked the third, "Why do you have are large thumb?" "from twisting the thread," she

answered, "from twisting the thread." After hearing this the King's son was surprised and

said, "Neither now nor ever shall my beautiful bride touch a spinning-wheel." And so she

never had to spin again.

THE END

Vocabulary words found in this story:

Idle: lazy

Flax: a slender plant with blue flowers that is grown for its fiber from which linen is

made and for its seed

Dowry: the property that a woman brings to her husband in marriage

Distress: a painful situation

Broad: not narrow : wide

Ashamed: feeling shame, guilt, or disgrace

Skein: a looped length of yarn or thread put up in a loose twist after it is taken from the

reel

Bridegroom: a man just married or about to be married

Treading: to beat or press with the feet

All vocabulary definitions from Merriam-Webster’s wordcentral.com

Sources

Fairytales:

"Common Elements of Fairy Tales." readwritethink.org. Web. 1 Jan. 2015. <http://www.readwritethink.org/files/

resources/lesson_images/lesson42/RWT027-4.pdf>.

Grimm W, Grimm J, Tatar M, Byatt AS. The Annotated Brothers Grimm. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.; 2004.*

Opie, Iona Archibald, and Peter Opie. The Classic Fairy Tales. London: Oxford UP, 1974.

The Brothers Grimm:

Johnson, Virginia. "Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: Brothers and Best Friends." Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: Brothers

and Best Friends. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. &lt;http://www.librarypoint.org/brothers_grimm&gt;.

Spinning Circles:

Bottigheimer, Ruth B. "Spinning and Discontent." Grimms' Bad Girls & Bold Boys: The Moral & Social Vision of the

Tales. New Haven: Yale UP, 1987. 115. *

*Contains some mature content*

Adaptations:

Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by

Pam Calvert

In this children’s book, Rumpelstiltskin returns to steal the

Miller’s Daughter’s ten year old child. The only way the hero

can save the day and return to his parents is with multiplica-

tion.

Rumpelstiltskin by Xavier Carrasco

This would be a wonderful book to use with students learning Spanish. It includes the text in both languages.

Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter by Diane Stanley

In this wonderful reimaging of the story, the Miller’s Daugh-

ter and Rumpelstiltskin fall in love. Later, the King is taught a

powerful lesson on how to truly bring prosperity to his king-

dom.

From other Cultures:

The Girl Who Spun Straw Into Gold by Virginia

Hamilton

This variation of the Rumpelstiltskin story is from the West

Indies and focuses on the character of Quashiba.

Duffy and the Devil by Harve Zemach

This story is from the Cornish tradition. The story is usually

presented around Christmas time and sometimes as a play.

Whuppity Stoorie: A Scottish Folktale by Carol White

This story originates from Scotland and is a true “fairy” tale.

Rather than a little man trying to take the child, it is a green

fairy named Whuppity Stoorie.

Tom Tit Tot by Joseph Jacobs

This is the version of the story comes from England.

Rather than gold, the girl must spin a large amount of flax and it is her mother who lies to the King.

Supplemental Reading Suggestions

Please participate in our StoryTime Theatre survey. Visit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D8M2DGN

Special thanks to:

Mera Cossey Corlett & Kevin Corlett, Heather Burns, Paul Lenzi &

Geraldine Anne Snyder, Annie Smith, Communities in Schools of Clark

County, and The Shubert Foundation.